Vanellope's Secret
by Annaomi
Summary: After Ralph has been heading to Sugar Rush every day after quitting time, the Nicelanders begin to suspect something. Felix follows Ralph to Vanellope's castle. But something is very wrong. Vanellope and her glitch are acting weird. Can they save her before she-and what she's spreading-dies?
1. Chapter 1

"Going out again, Ralph?" Felix asked as Ralph locked his house.

"Yeah," he said, "I'm heading to visit Vanellope again."

Felix watched him carefully. The Nicelanders had seen him going to Sugar Rush every day after quitting time and wondered what was up. As he was his "brother", Felix was the one who was chosen to see what was up.

"Watcha gonna do over there?" Felix asked.

"Uh, ya know, just gonna hang out."

"That's just swell," Felix said nervously. It was obvious that Ralph was lying. Before Felix could say anything more, Ralph boarded the carts to go into Game Central Station.

"Felix," Gene cried, running toward him with a bunch of other Nicelanders, "what did you find out?"

Felix sighed. "Nothing yet."

"Then follow him!" Diana cried.

Taking her advice, Felix boarded the carts into the station. The ride in seemed like forever, but when he finally made it into GCS, he saw Ralph talking to Surge outside of Sugar Rush. Felix rushed over and hid behind a pillar. Surge disappeared after a second, and Ralph, shaking his head, entered Sugar Rush. As he carefully followed Ralph, he was called over by a couple of the candy people. Being the nice person he was, he irresistibly walked over to help them fix a broken piece of race track before the pre-races began. Before he headed off again, Felix stayed to watch one round of the pre-races.

_Strange_, he thought, _Vanellope isn't in this race.  
_

Taffyta won the race, grinning and holding up a trophy. The racers began preparations for another race. Before it could begin, Felix snuck off to the castle, figuring since Ralph was visiting Vanellope, he was in there. He approached Vanellope's room and heard a bang, then Vanellope apologizing and crying.

"Don't apologize," he said, "it's not your fault. Just lie down and relax. I don't want you getting up, okay?"

"Okay, Stinkbrain," she teased.

Felix saw Sour Bill heading down the hallway. He quickly hid behind the corner. Ralph walked out of Vanellope's room, turning off the lights and shutting the door behind him.

"How is she?" Bill asked monotonously.

Ralph sighed. "I'm gonna get Doctor Mario in tomorrow. He'll know what to do. In the mean time, keep this quiet and a secret. We don't want to worry anyone."

"What about Felix?" Bill questioned.

This time, Ralph looked down both ways of the hallway, checking to see if anyone was there. Felix, luckily, was not seen. Ralph leaned in toward Bill.

"Ever since Felix married Calhoun, it's been... I don't know. I like them, don't get me wrong, but Felix is obsessed with this now. He doesn't seem to be interested in anything. I doubt he even cares for Vanellope anymore."

Felix was stunned. He loved Calhoun with all his heart, but he also loved little Vanellope and his "brother", Ralph. Had he really been ignoring them this whole time?

"Golly," he whispered as memories came back to him, "I may have been..."

Vanellope screamed in her room, but it sounded like an angry scream. The door shook as she banged on it.

"Let me out you morons!" she screamed, very out-of-character. After a moment, the banging and shaking of the door stopped, and the sound of her slumping to the ground and crying was heard. Ralph sighed and entered the room again. Sour Bill walked away, shaking his head.

"I hope the doctor can help her."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter Two**_

Ralph left the door open this time and Vanellope was kneeling on the ground, sobbing.

"Not again!" she cried. "Why does this keep happening?!"

"Calm down," Ralph shushed her, sitting and setting her on his lap. "Doctor Mario is coming in tomorrow. He'll get you medicine and you'll be better, okay?"

She looked up with fear in her eyes. "Uh... Okay..."

Felix watched them, wondering what was wrong with Vanellope. Besides the random outbursts of anger, she seemed fine. What was going on with her? Suddenly, Felix got his answer. Vanellope glitched, but not her normal glitch where she went from place to place. The code was red, and her eyes paled a bit. She looked furious.

"Let go!" she screamed at Ralph, her voice a little deeper.

He looked at her, concerned. After she started punching and kicking him, though, he thought it best to let go. Vanellope got up and took of down the hallway, quicker than he'd ever seen her. Ralph quickly got up and chased after her, catching her by the hood. She screamed and clawed Ralph's arm. He flinched, but as Felix looked harder, he noticed that Ralph's arm was clawed with scar marks up and down it. He must've done this everyday when he sneaked out. Vanellope stopped for a second, then passed out.

"This is getting worse," Ralph muttered.

He took her into her room, set her gently on her bed, and left. Felix ran outside just in time for Ralph not to see him. He followed Ralph out into Game Central Station and to Doctor Mario. The office wasn't very busy, only three or four characters. Felix walked in casually, hoping Ralph would assume that he just had an appointment.

"!$&%," Qbert welcomed him.

"!&#$ ," he replied. Ralph looked up and noticed him.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked, very friendly-like. Felix never realized how well he wore a mask, considering he was upset with Felix and Calhoun and Vanellope was sick. Then again, he had masked his feelings for 30 years about being a bad guy.

"Oh, just a regular check-up," he lied. It wasn't his normal way to lie, but he found it important this time.

Mario walked out. "Ralph, come-a on-a."

Ralph nodded toward Felix and headed back toward Mario's office. There was a glass window from which the patients in the waiting room could see the people in the office, and vice versa. Felix could read lips, as he had had to do over a period of years with the players on the screen.

"Is it Vanellope?" Mario asked.

"Yeah," Ralph said, not making eye-contact. "It's worse. The glitch went from just making her pass out to..."

"Ralph, you have to-a tell me."

"Right, right, I know. She keeps attacking me. I've got scars up my arm from her clawing it."

Mario nodded and jotted something down. "Mama mia, this is-a strange. I will come by tomorrow after quitting time."

"Thanks so much," Ralph said, looking relieved.

He left the office, Felix following. They made small talk as they went back to their game, only minutes before opening.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Sorry it's been so long! I got accepted into History Fair at districts, so I had to concentrate a lot on that. But here's Chapter 3!**_

Ralph got up, wiping mud off him. It was an especially exhausting day, as it was the first day of summer vacation for many schools. He was used to hitting the ground, but he had done it so many times today that he was limping a little. He even almost cried out in pain during a quarter alert when he slipped from climbing the penthouse. But the long, hard day was over and he could go to Vanellope now. He looked over at Doctor Mario's game. Mario was just leaving, so Ralph had to hurry.

"See ya, Felix," Ralph called as his friend neared him, "I'm heading out for a walk."

Felix, of course, knew this wasn't true. Even if he didn't, he would've suspected it because Ralph was sprinting toward the carts.

Ralph quickly got to GCS, but Surge stopped him outside of Sugar Rush.

"Sorry sir, random security check," he said.

"Yeah, sure it is," Ralph muttered.

"Name?"

"Zangief."

"Name?" Surge asked again, annoyed.

"You know my name!" Ralph cried, getting impatient.

"Name?"

"Wreck-it-Ralph."

"Where'd you come from?"

"Fix-it-Felix Jr."

"Do you have any fruit on you?"

Ralph was almost out of patience. "Do you?"

"Do you have any fruit on you?"

"No."

"Where are you heading?"

"I'll tell ya where you're heading," Ralph exclaimed before attempting to pick up Surge to throw him. His hands just went through him. Surge barely noticed.

"Where are you heading?"

"Sugar Rush."

"Anything to declare?"

"If you weren't code, you'd be imbedded into the wall."

"Proceed."

Ralph muttered under his breath as he headed into Sugar Rush. When he arrived at the castle, Mario was already there, just like Ralph had predicted. Vanellope was sitting on her bed, waiting for Mario to stop taking her blood pressure. Her finger had a band-aid on it; she must've had her blood taken. She looked up at Ralph and her eyes lit up.

"Hello diaper baby," she said. "I see you finally decided to show up."

He smiled. "Is she dead yet?"

Vanellope stuck her tongue out at him. He returned the favor.

"Actually, she's quite fine," Mario stated. "Her blood pressure is a-normal, her heart is beating steadily, her blood flow is fine, she has no a-fever..."

As Mario talked on, Vanellope blinked a couple times, trying to get rid of that horrible feeling. It overcame her once again. Ralph didn't notice; he was listening to Mario.

"I found one weird thing," Mario said, Vanellope swaying in the background. "Her eyes, they seem-a blood shot when she sways. Nothing has-a happened yet after the swaying but it's different than-"

Vanellope screamed suddenly and jumped up, glitching red. Mario looked up, surprised.

"Ralph!" she screamed. "I need... Ahh... Get him! No! Stop! Help! But he must die!" Vanellope's head moved back and forth with each emotion, like she was talking to two people.

"She's trying to fight back!" Ralph cried.

"No!" Mario exclaimed. "It'll make her worse!"

"Dead." Vanellope was whispering now. "Mario, he needs to be gone. I gotta be top. But no! Stop it!"

"Vanellope," Ralph said, getting to eye-level with her, "you need to quit fighting back. I know you're a mini soldier, but-"

Vanellope pushed him to the ground with force she shouldn't have had. Mario blinked, afraid to get any closer. He slowly backed up. She turned to him and muttered indistinctly. Ralph could only make out a few words.

"Gotta be top... No! Need to be top... Stop it! Can't let them be better..."

She pounced on Mario, clawing him.

"Better!" she screamed. "No!"

Ralph picked up Vanellope. She started clawing him instead.

"Vanellope," he said gently, ignoring the pain of the clawing, "you need to stop fighting it or you'll make it worse."

"Liar!" she cried.

"Listen to me," he said.

"No!"

It reminded Ralph of the time when he had to destroy her cart. He was trying to help her, but she couldn't understand. Both were a matter of life and death. Mario backed up and out the door, more surprised than Ralph had ever seen him. Vanellope stopped clawing and screaming and started swaying again. Her eyes slowly turned to their normal brown color. As always, she passed out. Ralph placed her on her bed again, as he had been doing every night she passed out, turned off the lights, and shut the door behind him. Mario stood there, flipping through his notes.

"Well?" Ralph asked. "Do you know what's wrong with her?"

"Every patient of mine that ever had a glitch problem only passed out," Mario said. "No one ever attacked, except one. But... it's-a too bad to think about."

"Who?" Ralph demanded. "Who was the one?"

Mario starred off, trying not to make eye-contact. "Turbo."


	4. Chapter 4

"Turbo?!" Ralph cried. "He had a glitch?!"

Mario nodded gravely. "It was mild enough that you couldn't see it happen, except the time you a-told me about in the race. It got worse and worse. He wanted to be better than anymore else. Of course, like Vanellope, he would-a pass out, but he managed to get to a place where no one would see him."

"The castle."

"Yes. All the medicine I usually give patients, who just pass out, mind you, didn't work. I knew that nothing would. He'd stay a-that way until... Until..."

Ralph was getting angry and impatient. "Until what?"

"Until he died, which would be sped up. His predicted death date was but a day after his real death in the beacon."

Ralph wouldn't meet Mario's eyes. Vanellope was going to be okay, he had to know that for sure. He thought she would, but now all that Mario was telling him was that there was no hope. Vanellope was going to die, and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Wait a minute," Ralph said, "if Vanellope dies, won't she just regenerate and be okay again? Glitch gone?"

Mario shook his head. "She'll just die because it's not just a glitch. It's a virus."

Felix, who was around the corner listening, recalled what his wife had told him once about viruses.

_"They don't know they're in a game. All they know is eat, kill, multiply."_

For some strange reason, though, Felix couldn't lead himself to believe that Cybugs were as bad as the virus hurting Vanellope. He continued watching as Mario left in the opposite direction of him. Ralph muttered the words that Mario had said, and, growing angry, punched a hole in the wall. He just starred at it for a while, then sighed.

"If only I could fix things," he said. "Vanellope would be okay. And this dumb wall wouldn't have a gaping hole in it."

"I can fix it," Felix said, coming around from the corner. Ralph jumped.

"How long have you been there?" he demanded.

Felix walked to the wall, tapped a couple areas with his hammer, and fixed it. "Long enough. I know about it all."

Vanellope cracked open the door. "Ralph?"

He turned. "Yeah?"

"I... I heard what Doctor Mario said..."

They could tell that she was attempting to hold her tears back. Her eyes were full of fear and her blue glitch went over her a little bit.

"Hey, Vanellope, wanna go for a drive?" Ralph said, trying to get her mind off of the situation. It worked; her eyes lit up.

"Yeah! Let's go, let's go, let's go!" she cried.

Felix smiled; his friend always knew how to make her feel better. He followed them outside to where her cart was parked. She hopped in and Ralph and Felix hopped onto the back. Vanellope took off with incredible speeds and she made her way toward Diet Cola Mountain. Of course, she headed straight for the wall in between the two sugar-free lollipops. Felix, who never had known about this hideout, was screaming his head off and begging them to stop, which made Vanellope laugh. They went through the wall and into her old home. She stopped and let them get off.

"I haven't been here in forever," she said. "Look, look Ralph!"

She ran around, examining all her old stuff.

"Here's my old bed! Oh! Oh! I used to bundle myself up like a little homeless lady! Hey, the Mentos grew back. Ralph! The track you made for me with the unfinished bonus level above it! It's here like I left it!"

He laughed. "What are you waiting for? Go race!"

She drove her cart over to the track and sped around a couple rounds. Felix stood there, still trying to take this all in while Ralph had to explain the story to him.

_**[Sugar Rush Course]**_

Taffyta swerved away from a power-up that Rancis had directed toward her. She had to be in this Roster. It was summer vacation and the best time for racing. Speeding down the track, she approached the gumball shoots. A gumball raced in front of her, barely missing her, and caused her to jump. When she did, a bit of blue code went over her and she glitched to the side. Shaking it off, she made it all the way to the tube jump. When she got there, a red glitch came over her and she passed out. Her cart crashed into the ground below and she regenerated back at the starting line, still passed out.

"Taffyta!" Candlehead cried as she crossed the line. The other racers ran toward her, but she remained passed out.

"Get President Vanellope!" someone cried, and immediately, Sour Bill sprinted to the castle.

Taffyta awoke and another red glitch spread over her. A few of the racers gasped.

"She's a glitch?!"


	5. Chapter 5

"What?" Taffyta asked, looking at all the confused faces surrounding her. The red glitch passed over her again, like it had been with Vanellope.

"Glitch!" Minty cried.

"I'm not a glitch!" Taffyta pleaded, and once again watched the blue code wash over her.

_**[Vanellope's Cas**__**tle]**__**  
**_

Sour Bill ran around the castle, rushing to find the missing President. He couldn't find her anywhere, which made him more worried. Had the glitch overcome her? Her door was open, and Ralph was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she was hungry. As Bill approached the kitchen, he saw a piece of paper on the counter.

_To whomever it may concern,_

_Ralph and I have taken Vanellope out to race. He figured it may get her mind off of things. We'll have her back by dinner._

_Sincerely,_

_Felix_

Bill was glad that he had stumbled upon the note. Now all he had to do was find a 9-year-old to fix a deadly disease that was spreading, or worse, he would have to fix it himself. Of course, he had never known about Vanellope's hideout, so his impossible hunt began.

_**[Vanellope's Hideout]**_

"Gee," Felix said as Ralph finished the story, "that's a wild tale."

Ralph smiled. It sure was.

"Hey Ralphie, watch this!" Vanellope cried, purposely copying what she had told him when she was first learning to drive. "I got it this time!"

Just like last time, she jumped the track, went onto the ramp, and got back onto the old roller-coaster track. In midair, however, the red glitch spread over her. The car went up, just like the blue glitch had before, and the front of the car hit the Mentos. They fell, exploding beneath her, and she fell with them.

"Oh my land," Felix gasped, both surprised by the explosions and the fact that Vanellope was falling into the boiling Diet Cola.

"Raaaalllllllllpppppppphhhhhh hh!" she screamed. "Hhhhhhheeeeeelllllllppppppp!"

"Vanellope, I'm coming!" Ralph cried as he ran onto the track. Time slowed down. He made it to the ramp. As carefully as a giant wrecker could make it, he jumped off the ledge and toward Vanellope. He managed to grab her from her car and get to the other side.

The car splashed into the Diet Cola, spraying Felix a bit. He jumped back in surprise.

"Ralph," Vanellope muttered, gasping for breath, "how did you do that?"

Felix looked at him expectantly, too.

"I don't know," he admitted. "I guess this hobo learned something from Hero's Duty."

Vanellope laughed a little bit, but looked concerned. "I glitched again. It was blue. And I couldn't control it."

"Ah, I'm sure you just got nervous," he replied, trying to get that little light to show up in her eyes again. It didn't.

_**[Vanellope's** **Castle]**_

"You can stay in the guest bedroom," Sour Bill said, his monotone voice not soothing Taffyta's nerves.

"Okay," she said.

After he left, she laid on the bed, starring up at the ceiling. The red glitch showed up again, and she passed out. Little did she know that the same thing was happening to Rancis at that very moment.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hey guys, thanks for all the support! Hope you enjoy chapter 6! Let's try to bump this story to most popular!**_

As the car approached the castle Sour Bill hurried toward it. Rancis and Taffyta were luckily in the guest bedrooms and relaxing, all he had to do now was tell Vanellope.

"What, cough-drop?" Vanellope teased. "Is dinner ready?"

"Your dinner," Bill replied, annoyed, "is always the same: a pop-tart."

She shrugged. "Hey, it tastes good. Better than you."

Bill cringed.

"Why'd you come running out so quick?" Ralph asked, afraid that there was more bad news. Bill very rarely bothered to talk to Vanellope when spoken to, let alone do it willingly.

He looked toward the guest bedrooms' windows. "Taffyta and Rancis glitched."

"What?!" Vanellope cried, her jaw dropping.

"Maybe we should see for sure," Felix said, trying to remain optimistic.

Bill shrugged and led them to the castle. On the way, Vanellope shrunk back to the kitchen and grabbed a pop-tart. Quickly, she ran back to the group, tripping and almost choking on it.

"Hey!" Ralph said.

"I know, I know," she muttered, "don't run with food in your mouth."

"No," he answered, "you didn't bring me any."

"Spoke too soon, diaper baby," she laughed, taking a packet of pop-tarts out of her pocket and tossing them to him. He caught them gleefully and ate them quickly.

Bill stopped in front of a couple doors. "She's in there, and he's next door." He walked away as if it were nothing.

Vanellope knocked on Taffyta's door. "Taffyta?"

"Yeah?" she answered.

Vanellope opened the door and walked in. Taffyta sat on her bed, fear penetrating her blue eyes.

"What's going on?" she asked, a little bit of red glitch going over her. "I keep passing out when I glitch, and then once I even almost broke down the door. I felt like... An intensity to be the winner. I mean, I've always liked winning, but..."

Vanellope nodded, understanding. "It happens to me."

Ralph watched the two ex-enemies talk, surprised how calm Vanellope was. Had she forgotten about her impending death? She wasn't one to under-react or put a situation aside, yet here she was, calming down Taffyta about something that would kill them both. Vanellope started blinking again, and Taffyta did the same thing. Over in the other room, so did Rancis. All three of them swayed back and forth, and their blue and brown eyes slowly turned bloodshot. Vanellope, who'd been through this too many times, was now feeling a new symptom: excruciating pain. She fell onto her knees and held her head.

"Make it stop," she moaned.

"What?" Ralph asked, pushing Felix to get in to the room. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

All three of the racers glitched red, then their eyes went completely bloodshot. Vanellope's pain stayed, but only her subconscious knew about it. The glitch was in control again. She screamed and struck Taffyta, who returned the gesture.

"You won the roster today!" Vanellope screamed. "It should be me! Stop! ME!"

"No!" Taffyta cried back. "I'm the winner! Stop, Taffyta!"

Behind him, Felix heard a giant bang. Rancis had broken down his door.

"Ralph," Felix warned, backing away from the angry child.

Ralph was too distracted to notice. "Stop fighting back. You guys need to listen! Come on!"

"Ralph," Felix tried again, watching the child's bloodshot eyes direct their attention to the girls.

"Not now, Felix!"

Rancis cried out, then ran toward the girls, pulling their hair. Taffyta's hat fluttered to the ground.

"You're not winners!" he screamed. "Stop. No! Yes. I'm the real winner!"

The girls attacked him with such force that Ralph didn't know what to do. If the virus didn't kill them, then their fighting just might. Rancis kicked Vanellope in the stomach and knocked her back. Her eyes went back to normal and she cried out. As soon as she woke up, the other two stopped, swayed, then passed out.

"Oh, oh my gosh," she moaned. "Ow, ow, ow!"

Ralph picked up Taffyta and set her gently on her bed. Felix did the same with Rancis next door.

"Ralph!" Vanellope screamed, holding her stomach.

"I know," he said, "Rancis kicked you."

"No," she said, "you don't understand. It hurt before he hurt me! Oh, it hurts so bad! I'm gonna vurp!"

"Calm down, calm down," Felix was saying, but he was trying to reassure himself more than the child.

Ralph picked up the little girl and raced to her room. He set her carefully on her bed.

"Why aren't you passing out?"

By now, the pain was so great that she couldn't speak. She curled in a ball and moaned. Eventually, as Ralph watched painfully, she couldn't even do that.

"Ralph!" Felix cried, gasping for breath as he came into the room. "You need to see this, now."

He was reluctant to leave, but Vanellope looked into his eyes, and something told him that she'd be okay.

"What?" he asked, following Felix down the hallway.

"We... We found the virus."


	7. Chapter 7

_**Thanks for the support again guys! A review put me as sir/ma'am, I'm a 13-year-old girl! Also, for whoever put about Felix's hammer, stay tuned... :)**_

"Where?" Ralph asked, almost screaming.

Felix jumped a little. "Calm down, brother. It's in Taffyta's hat."

Ralph remember when Rancis had pulled her hair, the hat had fallen. But if the virus was in there, why had Taffyta passed out? Shouldn't she be better? Did this mean that they could find a cure before they got it? Would they get it? Or could Sugar Rush racers only get it? If so, could and would Sour Bill get it? Was it Turbo (or King Candy, whatever) that had passed it on?

Questions swam in Ralph's head, giving him a headache. He forced them away and followed Felix to Taffyta's room. Sure enough, her hat still lie on the floor. He didn't move it, but he couldn't see anything that would signal a virus. As if on cue, Felix carefully picked up a jar with a tiny bug in it.

"It looks like a baby Cy-bug," Ralph muttered.

"Not exactly, brother," Felix answered, observing the virus, "Cy-bugs have green eyes, this one has purple. Also, Cy-bugs can be killed with a beacon, and I already tried that; it didn't work. Furthermore-"

"We get it!" Ralph cried. "Your wife is a Cy-bug expert!"

"And a dynamite gal," he said dreamily.

Ralph's feelings about the annoying married couple that didn't care about anyone else surfaced again. Felix saw it in his eyes, whispered a quiet, "sorry", and they didn't discuss it further. They stood there in awkward silence, trying to figure out what to do. Suddenly, Ralph jumped.

"Wait," Ralph said, an idea infecting his brain, "wouldn't Calhoun know what to do with this?"

Felix jumped, excited, "Yes! Let's go!"

As they were exiting the room, Felix a little bit more happily than Ralph, Ralph absentmindedly shut the door, which of course equaled a slam. The door hit Felix and he cried out. Realizing what he'd done, Ralph quickly opened the door. Felix had a giant bruise on his cheek.

"Oh, sorry," Ralph said, not sure what else to say. He was never good with feelings.

"I can fix it," Felix replied, tapping himself with his hammer. He was instantly healed.

"Hey," Ralph said, "can't you just hit Taffyta, Rancis, and Vanellope with the hammer?"

Felix brightened and walked toward Taffyta.

"No!" Ralph said, a bit more forceful than intended. "Vanellope first. She's... awake... and we'll be able to see her healed..."

Felix smiled, knowing what the method behind Ralph's madness. He needed to see that Vanellope was okay, that this little girl wouldn't die. Felix led the way to Vanellope's room, watching the door cautiously. When they entered the room, Ralph winced because she had started moaning again. She looked up when they entered, and despite her agonizing pain, the twinkle returned to her eyes as soon as she saw him.

"Hey... Stinkbrain...," she said weakly.

"Shh," he shushed, "don't strain yourself."

Felix stepped up toward Vanellope and gently tapped her with his hammer. She didn't move, just looked at Ralph expectantly.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

She shook her head, then held it, like just shaking it hurt. The pain was getting increasingly worse. Vanellope felt it spread from her head to her stomach. It was so bad that she wished she could pass out right there and then. Ralph watched, and wished that it was him.

"It's worse, isn't it?" he asked.

Vanellope couldn't nod or speak, just moan, and even that was hard, but uncontrollable. She looked at Ralph pleadingly, her eyes begging him to fix it. He found it amazing that this girl, even though she knew that he was a wrecker, believed that he could _fix_ the situation. She liked Felix well enough, sure, but she trusted Ralph more. He wouldn't let her down.

"Why didn't it work?" Ralph asked, frustratingly watching Vanellope struggle to keep her moans in.

"Tammy will know," Felix answered, sighing.

Ralph took one last look at Vanellope, waved good-bye, and they hurried out of Sugar Rush and into Hero's Duty.


	8. Chapter 8

"Shush!" Calhoun cried, silencing her soldiers. While other games rested or went to Tapper's after quitting time, the Hero's Duty characters never rested. Ever since Sugar Rush incident, many more perimeter checks had been added. Shifts were formed for each day of the week, Calhoun taking Monday and Wednesday, the least likely days that her husband wasn't taking care of Niceland and the Nicelanders. It was Monday, and they were making their sixth perimeter check when she heard something coming from the monorail tracks. She aimed her gun toward the starting point.

Felix and Ralph got off the monorail, and Felix, knowing by now, shouted, "It's clear! Just Fix-it-Felix-Jr.!"

Calhoun and her soldiers set down their guns and watched the brothers come in. Her soldiers snickered as her face went soft, but she turned hard again as soon as she scolded them and sent them away. She'd deal with them later.

"What are you doing here, Fix-it, Wreck-it?" Her voice was scolding, yet had a hint of happiness. She loved her husband, of course, but Hero's Duty was way too dangerous. If she died (which she did quite often), she'd just regenerate. If Felix did, he'd be gone, and she didn't want to lose the love of her life... again. Despite his courage, Felix was still small, and a Cy-bug would carry him away faster than a cheetah chasing down a lame antelope.

"We need your help," Felix answered, his face covered with honeyglows.

Calhoun watched them expectantly while Felix handed her the jar. She examined it carefully, but looked unimpressed.

"Why'd you bring me this?" she asked. "Do you want me to kill it, soldier? This isn't a Cy-bug, so a beacon won't work."

Ralph shifted impatiently. "If it isn't a Cy-bug, what is it?"

"Parasite," she answered, scowling at the bug. "Fix-it, you were near this? Where'd you find it?"

She was rarely scared, especially for one who died daily. But now, her husband was in danger.

"Vanellope and a couple of her friends have it, ma'am," Felix replied.

"_It?" _Calhoun cried. "No, this devil multiplies almost as fast as a Cy-bug. The eggs don't hatch as quickly, but it causes a world of pain. Good thing it only effects children."

"Is there a cure?" Ralph asked.

"Of course, but you're gonna need to pry it away from Turbo."

Ralph blinked. "Turbo's alive?!"

"Yes, I've heard rumors," Calhoun muttered. "I've even seen his ugly face in the GCS. I'm still trying to figure out who he's disguising himself as, that demon."

"Why does Turbo have the cure?" Felix asked, still in shock.

"Even Armageddon and Doomsday's loyal sidekick wants to be healed."

"But how did he get it?"

Calhoun shrugged. "You'll need to figure out who he is, soldier."

Ralph nodded thoughtfully. If this was the way he had to save Vanellope, so be it. He couldn't let her die, no matter how many names the brat called him. "Let's go."

Felix took Calhoun's hand. "Where to, m'lady?"

She shook her head and got down to his level. "Sorry, Fix-it, but I can't be on this one."

He looked surprised and upset. "Why not?"

"I've got perimeter checks tonight. Another Sugar Rush incident would be catastrophic. Most games still don't trust Hero's Duty."

It was true; most games avoided the game. That wasn't a big deal, since it could easily copy the Sugar Rush incident if a bunch of games were always in Hero's Duty, but when the characters avoided the soldiers and Calhoun, it got annoying. Some even looked down on Felix for marrying Calhoun. It could only be imagined what would happen if they had kids (but that's another story).

Felix sighed, but didn't complain. He kissed her on the cheek and she smiled. As they started to leave, she yelled after them, "Hey, Fix-it, did you use your hammer on the kids?"

Felix stopped and turned slowly. Calhoun only pointed things out if they were important. "Yeah, why?"

"Did it work?

"No."

Calhoun sighed. "Don't do it again. Parasites can't be killed like that, only get stronger."

Ralph's face lost a little color. "So now it's stronger?!"

"You catch on quick, Wreck-it," Calhoun snickered sarcastically. "You better check on those girls before you find Turbo."

"Will do, ma'am!" Felix cried.

_**[Sugar Rush Castle]**_

Ralph burst through the door, making Vanellope wake up.

"Gosh, you're so loud!" she teased.

"Are you still in pain?" he asked.

She sat up, lifted both arms, then kicked the bed gently. "Nope. How are Taffyta and Rancis?"

"Come with me and find out, but we gotta hurry. The arcade is gonna open in an hour."

They hurried across the hall to Rancis's temporary room. He was sitting on his bed, swinging his legs back and forth.

"Yes?"

"Did you glitch anymore?" Ralph asked.

"Huh? Yeah, but just once."

"What about Taffyta?"

As if on cue, Taffyta walked in. She smiled shyly at the others. Her hat was back on her head.

"Just once for me, too," she said.

Red code flowed over Vanellope as she said, "Did you find it? The cure? Are we gonna be okay?"

"You're gonna be fine," Ralph answered, more forcefully than intended, "and Felix and I will find the cure after quitting time tonight. The three of you can't race today, got it?"

They nodded in unison. Red code flowed over Taffyta. Her eyes grew a little bloodshot. Ralph noticed and acted upon it this time.

"Hey, Taffyta, how about you get some rest?"

The girl nodded, knowing what was coming, and dizzily walked to her room. Ralph locked the door behind her. He did the same for Rancis.

"Do I have to go to my room?" Vanellope whined.

"Yeah, kid, sorry."

"Aww, can't I come with you to your game? I've never actually been there..."

It was an interesting idea. No, she hadn't been there, and she'd been begging Ralph to take her for a long time. He didn't think the Nicelanders would appreciate her attitude and mischief the way he did, so he always denied her request. But now, it made sense.

"Okay, kid," he said, "but you're gonna have to stay in the penthouse."

She cheered and glitched onto his shoulder.

_**[Fix-it-Felix Jr.]**_

"Wow, you should've brought me before!" Vanellope squealed as the carts rolled into the game. She gazed up at the penthouse and around the 8-bit forests. This game was nothing compared to the Sugar Rush landscapes, yet she was amazed.

"Where do you live? That dump?"

Ralph smiled. "Yeah, well, I built myself a little place. Little less lonely."

"Where will I stay?"

"Penthouse. There are extra rooms."

As Ralph approached the penthouse, Gene watched, disproving his every move. He especially kept an eye on Vanellope, considering the stories he'd heard. Ralph was enough mischief; he didn't need a little kid, too. They climbed the stairs to a small room with a view of the game.

"Can I watch you when the arcade opens?" Vanellope asked.

"That's what the window is for. In fact, I wreck this exact window, so watch out. If the gamer is good, though, it'll be fixed."

She grinned excitedly. If she could stay in any room, it would've been this one.

"Okay, everyone," Felix yelled outside, "arcade opens in five minutes! Get ready for quarter alerts!"

The Nicelanders rushed to their rooms, some more happily than others.

"I gotta go," Ralph said, fist-bumping the little girl. "See you soon."

He walked out and locked the door, just in case. Before long, there was the first quarter alert of the day.


	9. Chapter 9

Every time Ralph smashed Vanellope's window, she watched with amazement. Sure, she'd watched from her game before, but up close it was different... so _real_. At least, real as opposed to the 8-bit graphics on the screen. Unless the gamer wasn't that good (which didn't happen often, since Fix-it-Felix Jr. was a popular game that was played repeatedly), Felix would fix the window and wink at Vanellope each time. After a shred of glass flew up and cut her cheek, she found it best to stay back from the window. In the mirror, the cut was bleeding down her face, but she didn't worry too much; Felix could fix it later.

The worst part, though, was watching Sugar Rush. It was uncommon for this game, too, not to be busy, so she could see the racers often. Taffyta and Rancis, of course, weren't racing, so Minty and Gloyd were the fan-favorites for the day. They had never really been that mean to her (after she became President), so they wouldn't brag, but that wouldn't stop her from wanting to race and becoming jealous of them.

The wind in her hair, the 3-D graphic candy and sweets, the occasional crash, she missed it all.

She heard Ralph scream again as he fell from the building. Mud splattered us, almost reaching her this time. The last few people left the building and soon after, Litwak locked the door behind him.

"All clear!" Yuni Verse yelled. "The arcade's closed!"

Vanellope breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back from the window. The mirror in front of her revealed that her cut had begun bleeding a little again. She grabbed a couple tissues, dabbed the cut, and put pressure on it until it stopped. She'd seen Dr. Mario do the same thing and figured that it was the best thing to do until Felix came.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Uh... Yes?" Vanellope called.

"It's me, brat," Ralph answered.

A wave of happiness to see her friend replaced her fear about the parasite and cut. She opened the door excitedly.

"What happened?!" Ralph cried.

"What?" Vanellope asked, confused. She followed his eyes to her cheek. "Oh, the cut? You happened, Jeeves."

He smirked, then looked guilty. "I assume you want Felix?"

She nodded and stuck her tongue at him. He returned the favor.

It only took a moment for Ralph to find Felix. He was outside, helping the Nicelanders out. Once the mess was cleaned up, he joined him to Vanellope's room. Felix took out his hammer, but hesitated.

"What?" Ralph asked.

"The parasite. Golly, won't it grow stronger?"

"Wait." Vanellope was getting nervous. "What is he talking about?"

Ralph sighed, not wanting to worry her anymore. When her answer was just silence, she grew a little frustrated.

"Tell me," she demanded.

"Uh... Well," Ralph said, "when Felix used his hammer on you the first time... the parasite grew, uh, stronger..."

"Gosh," Vanellope muttered, turning away, "you numbskull! Why didn't you tell me?! Why... why didn't you do anything?!"

"I know, I know," he mumbled, "and we're going to find Turbo right now."

That got her attention. "Turbo? Like, King Candy? That Turbo?"

"Yeah, he's alive, and if you wanna get better, Princess-"

"President."

"-then you're gonna have to help."

Vanellope sighed and turned back around, her eyes slightly but unfortunately not noticeably bloodshot. "Okay, but you gotta promise me something."

"What?"

"Don't keep anything more from me. I mean, about the parasite... I really don't wanna know what else you do in life."

"Hey!" he said as they walked out of the penthouse.

"Can you blame me?"

Felix laughed a little, but said nothing. It was more entertaining to listen to the two than chime in. Besides, they had a villain to find.

_**[Dr. Mario's Office]**_

"Where did you-a get this cut?" Dr. Mario asked, watching her eyes cautiously.

"Ol' Stinkbrain right here," Vanellope replied, grinning.

Mario took out peroxide and a paper towel. Vanellope winced at the thought of it. Ralph noticed and tried to find a way to distract her, but to no avail.

"On-a three-a," Mario stated, holding the items up. "One... two... three."

Vanellope looked like she could pass out when the peroxide met her cut. It stung horribly, like lemon juice in a paper cut. Before she knew it, though, it was gone and stitched up.

"Thank ya' friend," Felix told him as they left.

"No problem."

"One question real quick," Ralph said, "the parasite. If it's only for children, how did Turbo get it?"

Mario starred off into the distance. "He had a different form. It must've gotten to Vanellope when he attacked her and adapted to be only-a children."

They thanked the doctor again and walked out.

As they entered GCS, Vanellope cried out and fell onto the ground, unable to get up. Ralph moved her aside and set her on a bench, ignoring all the looks they were getting.

"What's going on?" Ralph asked.

"My stomach," Vanellope groaned, "it hurts... so badly..."

Her eyes went completely bloodshot and she looked up at Ralph in both fear and anger.

"Why did you hurt me?" she asked, luckily quietly. "No, he didn't. Yeah, he did! You can't let him... He's fine!"

"Don't fight back," Ralph said. "You asked me to hold nothing back, and I am now, I'm not hurting you. But if you fight back, it'll make it worse."

She flinched as if someone had hit her, then the fear melted away from her eyes. Anger completely replaced it.

"You're so bad! You're a bad guy!"

Ralph could barely take hearing that, even though he knew it was the parasite speaking.

"Is she going Turbo?" someone passing by asked Felix. Soon a crowd gathered, despite Felix's efforts to keep them away.

"We gotta get her out of here," Ralph muttered, picking the struggling Vanellope up. He pushed through the crowds until someone yanked him back, causing him to drop Vanellope. A wave of red code went over her and she mumbled something about being the best by murder. Ralph was shoved to the back of the crowd. He knew these characters would regret messing with her when she screamed bloodily.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Thanks for support! When I reference the Sims in here, by the way, it's not real, as far as I know... I'm just trying to create a game that'll**_** work!**

"Stop it! Let me go! I gotta be... No!" Vanellope screamed.

Ralph would've complained any other time of her fighting back, but this time, it might've stopped her from being trampled. Sure enough, the crowd was getting angry at her, trying to get her to stop glitching.

"Oh my land, they think it's a repeat of the 2003 incident!" Felix cried.

Back in '03, a game called Sims: Life in the Country had a main character named Faith. Everyone in the arcade loved her (and there were even rumors of boys fighting over her). One day, however, she developed a sort of glitch. For whatever reason, she could leave her game, but it caused her to go crazy. She became obsessed with the glitch and was afraid that anyone who came near her would take it away. One day, she stole a gun from a store in Sims and walked into Game Central Station. A Nicelander (her name was Georgia) approached her to ask about her day. Faith open-fired. Luckily, before she could kill anyone else, a crowd tackled her to the ground. She shot herself.

"I didn't even think of that!" Ralph cried. "We have to stop them before..."

He didn't want to finish his sentence. It was too scary to think about.

Vanellope managed to glitch away from the crowd and onto Ralph's shoulder. Her eyes were back to normal, but she was holding her stomach. The little tough girl, though, managed to keep moans in and sit up.

"Don't touch her!" Ralph yelled when the crowd advanced toward her.

"She's like Faith!" someone cried.

"No, she's not. She's just a child! Leave her alone!"

"She's going Turbo!"

Felix could see Ralph turning red in anger. If he didn't do anything soon, he'd do something bad.

"Friends, come on, why would a child go Turbo?" Felix asked.

"She glitched!"

Sure enough, Vanellope had a wave of red code wash over her. She wasn't saying a word, and the pain had subsided.

Felix managed to calm down the crowd (he was always highly respected) enough to give Ralph and Vanellope time to escape back to Fix-it-Felix Jr. Vanellope collapsed onto the bed and waited to see what Ralph would do.

"What was that all about?" she asked, a glimpse of fear glittering in her eyes.

Ralph sighed and explained the '03 incident. He tried to keep his voice level, but it was difficult, considering fear, sadness, and relief were welling up inside of him. Even in the gamer world, girls had hormones, so he'd seen them (especially Diana and Mary; Felix had learned to keep them apart around certain times). But he'd never felt them. It was like a well of emotions, all rising at once, and wanting to explode. He was angry at the crowd. He was scared that Vanellope would die. He was relieved that they had gotten away. He was sad that this was happening.

"Where's Faith now?" Vanellope asked.

"She killed herself. The glitch took her over."

Vanellope shivered. Her glitch, her blue one, was never that bad. Sure, she'd been depressed, but she was always convincing herself that things would be okay, just like now. In the back of his mind, a voice reminded her that she'd be dead soon, yet her thoughts convinced her that she'd be okay, that Ralph would fix everything. Sure, he was no Felix, but that was okay.

"Princess! Princess! Princess!" someone cried, bursting in the room.

The cry made Vanellope jump, then flinch in pain. She held her stomach. "President. And what do you want, cough-drop?"

"Gloyd and Crumbellina fell sick," Sour Bill said, gasping for breath. "You need to come back!"

Vanellope looked at Ralph, then painfully got up. "I have to handle this before someone dies."


	11. Chapter 11

"No," he said, forcing tears down, "you can't. The parasite might spread more, or you'll overwork yourself, kid."

Vanellope stopped at the door, but didn't look up. She sighed quietly. "I'm sorry, Ralph, but I gotta."

She followed Sour Bill out of the room. Ralph walked with them back to Sugar Rush.

"Why'd you come?" Vanellope asked as Bill held the door open. They wandered back to the hall of bedrooms.

"I can help," Ralph responded, walking into Gloyd's new guestroom.

Gloyd was starring out the window, little bits of red code glitching on him. "What do you want?"

Vanellope was taken back by his sudden rudeness. Gloyd had never been like that before. In fact, he was so kind and popular that Taffyta and Vanellope both had crushes on him. She had never heard him be rude. She concluded that the parasite must be effecting emotions more than they originally thought. Not good.

"Are your eyes repeatedly bloodshot?" Vanellope asked. "Do you sway? Glitch red code?"

Ralph couldn't help but think that she sounded like a commercial on TV. There was a TV by the snack-bar, so he saw them often.

"Yes," Gloyd said, "what is this?"

Felix sighed and helped them explain everything, from the parasite to Felix's hammer. Gloyd was silent, starring out the window. His eyes grew a little red and he shifted uncomfortably. He swayed back and forth.

"Uh, Gloyd," Ralph said, catching on, "we need to go, er, check on the others."

He nodded, but continued starring out the window.

The trio found Taffyta and Crumbelina to be fine, but Rancis wasn't. He was in the middle of the red glitch when they entered.

"Vanellope," he muttered, "who won the race today?"

Vanellope strained herself to think who won the roster. "Uh... Minty, Snowanna, Adorabeezle, Swizzle, Gloyd, Crumbelina-"

"Gloyd," Rancis repeatedly, "Crumbelina. They're here, aren't they?"

Vanellope shifted on her heels. "Why?"

Rancis looked up at her, his eyes that angry red. "Because they shouldn't race. I should race, I should win, I should be the best."

"Rancis," Vanellope said, "just calm down."

"Yeah," he said, "no! I can't!"

"Don't fight back!" the trio said at once.

Rancis sighed and slid down from the bed. He calmly walked over to the drawer and pulled down a pocket knife. Vanellope stepped back in alarm. Her eyes went slightly red, but it was too unnoticeable.

"If I'm gonna be the best," he said, "I have to get rid of the competition."

Felix gasped as he approached Vanellope. To Ralph's surprise, she stepped forward toward Gloyd.

"Calm down," she said, "it's alright."

Red code simultaneously went over both of them. Vanellope's eyes were now recognizably red.

"Nobody should beat me!" Gloyd cried, lifting up the knife toward her.

"No!" Ralph cried. Vanellope dove out of the way just in time. The knife jammed into the floor. Gloyd tried to get it out, but to no avail. While he was trying, Vanellope grabbed a pottery jar, lifted it over her head, and brought it down on Gloyd. He passed out.

"No competition!" she screamed, picking up a shard. She brought it over to the drawer and sharpened it against the edge. It didn't need much, for it was already sharp. Taking it back over to Gloyd's body, she lifted it up.

"Stop!" Felix cried, running in front of her. She hesitated, seeing Felix there.

"Why?" she demanded.

"Snap out of it! You know you don't want to kill him."

She stood there, as if thinking about it, then her eyes went back to their normal color. She fell down and cried out.

"Stomach hurting?" Ralph asked.

She nodded, then looked at Gloyd. "I'm sorry." Her voice was full of pain and sadness. Tears rose in her eyes, but she shoved them down. Gloyd woke up after a minute.

"It's okay," he said, sitting up and wiping blood off his arm.

"Let's get the cut cleaned up," Felix said, leading Gloyd out of the room.

Vanellope starred at the infamous shard of glass. Her eyes were lasers trying to destroy it. She couldn't believe she had done such a thing, especially to Gloyd. He'd never hurt her (besides trying to kill her with a knife, but that was the glitch, not him). Why didn't she try to stop herself? Ralph noticed her expression.

"It wasn't you fault," he said.

She looked up at him. "Don't... Don't be such a diaper baby." She forced a smile.

"I know you're upset, kid."

Vanellope wouldn't look at him. Not after this. "I'm a bad guy. I'm like Turbo."

"No," Ralph said, "no, you're not! Don't say that. It's the glitch, not you."

"But I can control it!" she yelled.

"To a certain extent."

She sighed and kicked a shard. The knife was still stuck in the floor. The devious weapon was meant to murder her, she reminded herself.

She thought back to a month ago. Things were great. She was President and everyone was nice to her. The races went without a fight and nobody felt left out. Everything was peaceful and happy. Now, though, her crush tried to murder her. If you were a child, you couldn't go anywhere in Sugar Rush without the worry of becoming infected. I you weren't, you couldn't go anywhere in Sugar Rush without the worry of being attacked. It was strange to think about, even for Vanellope, who naturally had strange thoughts. Nobody intended to hurt anyone a month ago, yet murder and death was happening to the game. Would they be unplugged?

"Just take me to my room," she said. "I want to sleep."

Ralph sighed, but lead the way. He shut the door after she had curled into her bed and pretended to have fallen asleep. He wandered out of the castle and back to his game, all the way worrying what would become of everything.

"Attention," the voice-over said, "the arcade will open in five minutes. Please report to your games."

Ralph went to his place in Fix-it-Felix Jr. and kept a good eye on Sugar Rush the whole day. Things were fine until Minty glitched red while a player was playing her. Her car went off-track and refused to go back on.

"Mr. Litwak!" the girl who was playing the game cried.

"Yes sweetheart?" he answered.

"Something's wrong with the game."

Mr. Litwak watched as the girl demonstrated Minty's glitch.

"Okay," he said, "try playing another character."

Sugar Rush was one of his favorites (not to mention it cost a fortune) and he didn't want to unplug it. If it was one character, he wouldn't.

The girl obeyed and chose Candlehead, who luckily didn't glitch. Ralph caught a glimpse of Bill leading Minty to the castle in the background, but luckily, neither Litwak or the girl seemed to.

The parasite was spreading even more, and if something didn't happen soon, Sugar Rush would be unplugged.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Okay guys, just a clarification, Rancis was in the room glitching when Gloyd entered; they both passed out. Gloyd was the one who tried to kill Vanellope and was hit over the head with pottery. I'm sorry that it wasn't clear; it was kinda late when I wrote that. Thanks for all the encouragement!**_

Yuni Verse announced the closing of the arcade. Ralph quickly made his way to Sugar Rush. Vanellope wasn't in her room, and Rancis was sleeping, so she obviously wasn't in there. He entered Taffyta's room.

"Where's Vanellope?" he asked.

She looked up and smirked. "Gloyd's room."

Taffyta wasn't apparently happy about this. Ralph remembered that both girls had a crush on Gloyd. He wasn't quite sure how he would deal with that. To him, emotions were confusing, and he wasn't sure how he felt about this. He didn't want to end up like an overprotective father, but he didn't want him to hurt her, either. Maybe he'd just keep track of what was going on. Not butt in, but keep his distance, close enough to know what's happening and far enough to let them have their fun. They were only kids, anyway.

He left Taffyta (her eyes were going bloodshot) and locked the door behind him. Before long, she was pounding on it angrily. It was strange to just walk away from this, although there was an abundance of strange things they had been happening.

When he entered Gloyd's room, him and Vanellope were talking. She was leaning against the wall and he was sitting on the bed. Once again, Ralph was unsure how he felt about this.

"Anymore glitching?" Ralph asked.

Vanellope looked up. "Well, Rancis did once more, and then I did, but Gloyd had half a mind to lock us in our rooms, so it was okay."

Gloyd blushed. "Yeah well, it was the first thing that came to mind."

There was an awkward silence. Gloyd and Vanellope looked at each other, and they both blushed at once, like an understanding passed between them that Ralph didn't get.

"Is Minty here?" Ralph asked.

"Yeah, she glitched last night and passed out," Vanellope said. "Oh, and I'm not the only one with pain, Stinkbrain. Taffyta and Rancis are starting to get it, too."

Ralph sighed. "Okay, we need to find Turbo as soon as possible."

Gloyd looked back and forth between him and Vanellope. "Turbo's here?"

"Yep," they both said at once.

Just the sound of his name brought a sense of coldness into the room.

"Why do you need to find him?" Gloyd asked.

"Well," Ralph said, "he has the cure for the parasite. We just can't figure out where he is and who he's posing as."

Gloyd looked nervous, almost scared. He laughed awkwardly. "I'm sure you'll find him..."

Vanellope watched him carefully, observantly, like every move of his was something to be concerned about. "Ralph, can I talk to you in private?"

He nodded, wondering what that could be about. They walked into the hallway and into the kitchen. Vanellope pulled out a pop-tart and put it in the toaster.

"Gloyd is acting really weird," she admitted after a minute.

"What do you mean?" Ralph asked.

The toaster popped and she tossed one of the pop-tarts to Ralph. She ate the other.

"He's... like... nervous all the time, especially when I mention anything about Turbo."

"We'll find Turbo," Ralph mentioned quickly, "and everyone's nerves will be calm, okay?"

She sighed. "Alright."

They sat there for a moment, eating their pop-tarts. Suddenly, an idea sparked in Vanellope's mind.

"Turbo will be racing, right?" she said.

"Yeah."

"What games race in the arcade?"

Ralph thought for a moment. "Sugar Rush, Mario Kart, and NASCAR."

"Then we'll find him in one of those! We'll talk around to find the person who rules the land, then..."

She trailed off, realizing what she was saying. Ralph was watching her skeptically.

"No," she said, "you don't actually believe that I'm Turbo!"

He shook his head out of it. "No, no, Vanellope. Come on, he's probably in Mario Kart. We'll check there first."


	13. Chapter 13

_**Wow. It's been way too long, and I apologize. I know this is dragging on... Please tell me if it's getting too long. Follow me (the author) and I'll be happy to post another Wreck-it-Ralph story (maybe even a sequel!) after this one.**_

Mario raced across the finish line, once again winning a race. Bowser growled and cursed as he drove toward the houses. Much like Sugar Rush, Mario Kart had houses that the racers (even Bowser) lived in after quitting time. When he passed Vanellope and Ralph, he did a double-take, then grinned and waved to his fellow bad guy. Vanellope tried not to act scared, but she quietly slid behind Ralph. Sure, she liked Ralph, but she'd liked him before she knew he was a bad guy. A fire-breathing turtle with spikes on his shell wasn't exactly a great first-impression.

After handing his trophy to Peach and kissing her on the cheek, he headed over to the duo.

"What are you two doing-a here?" he asked.

Vanellope stifled a laugh. Mario noticed. "What?"

"I don't know," she admitted, "you just sound like Dr. Mario."

Mario smiled. "He's-a my brother."

Ralph knew that Mario could possibly be Turbo because he was the lead racer, but he found it extremely unlikely. If he had pointed out that Dr. Mario was his brother and kissed Peach, it didn't seem weird. Maybe he needed a witness.

"We're here to ask Peach some questions," he finally said.

Mario hesitated, as if he were nervous. Could it just be that she was his girlfriend?

"What type of-a questions?"

"Like, about, well, this thing..."

Vanellope groaned to herself. This could go on forever. She had to intervene before he rambled until opening time. Well, she would've intervened anyway, but that wasn't the point.

"There's a parasite going around Sugar Rush," she said, "and we'd like to ask her if she knows anything about it."

Mario backed away. "You're not-a spreading it in here are you!?"

"No, no!" Ralph exclaimed. "It's only in children. We just want to know if she knows anything, since she deals with children a lot."

It was true. When she wasn't racing, she was taking care of the babies in the babysitting game (it wasn't popular, but the babies still needed taking care of). It was a good coverup.

"Well, okay," Mario said and called over his girlfriend. He left, but not before glancing several times over his shoulder as he walked away.

"Yes?" Peach asked, her blue eyes sparkling.

Ralph made sure that Mario was far away, then said, "Have you heard that Turbo is lose?"

"Oh, no," she said in her over-exaggerated voice.

"Well, he is, and we were wondering if you've seen any unusual activity here," Ralph said.

As they were talking, Vanellope noticed Luigi watching them. He pulled something out of his pocket that looked like a vial, spun it in his hands, then slipped around the corner. She tried to get Ralph's attention, but he kept talking to Peach. She decided to take matters into her own hands and followed Luigi down an empty street. He seemed nervous, and kept looking back, but didn't seem to notice Vanellope. Finally, he entered a small house. Vanellope dove into the door before it closed. Luigi sighed and glanced around, fear in his eyes. He turned toward Vanellope, who jumped.

"Go," he whispered, "hurry!"

"You're Turbo!" she cried. "I saw you carrying the antidote!"

A familiar voice laughed and someone came down the stairs.

"He's Turbo?" The person laughed more. "No, I am."

"Gloyd!?" Vanellope screamed. "No!"

He laughed again. This guy apparently had issues with laughing. "Don't worry, your precious boyfriend is at your secret hideout. I was afraid you'd find him, Princess-"

"President."

"-when you were driving your pathetic cart in there, but you didn't. He must've still been knocked out."

"What are you going to do with him?" she cried.

"When I'm done with you," Gloyd-Turbo said, "I'll drop him into the Cola springs."

"No!" Vanellope screamed. She tried to run toward him, but he pushed her aside. He exposed his original form.

"I hated that racer's body," he muttered, "not easy to race with. Luigi, hand me the vial."

"Why are you working for him?" Vanellope cried.

He sighed. "I'm sorry. He... he-a tricked me, he took Daisy."

"Oh, yes," Turbo said, like he'd just remembered that, "she's chained to her bed. I'd hurry if I were you."

Luigi ran out the door. He slammed it behind him, and it caused red code to go over Vanellope.

"Ah, the red code," he said, "I see you got the parasite."

"Give me the antidote!"

"No! It's mine!"

Vanellope felt the pain starting to come back, so she casually leaned against a chair next to her. Turbo didn't seem to notice.

"How are you even alive?" she asked, hoping to distract him long enough for the glitch to come. She'd gain more strength, and maybe she'd be able to get the vial.

"You think you can kill me?" he asked, laughing. "The Cola beacon only destroyed the Cy-bug in me."

"Pity."

The pain was so great that she had to use all her strength to hold herself up. More red code glitched, but Turbo was too busy telling his story to do anything. Finally, she couldn't handle it anymore. Her knees buckled and the glitch took her over, hopefully for the last time. In her heart, she knew it would be the last time, anyway. The glitch was at its full extent. Either she'd retrieve the antidote, or die shortly after she glitched.

The fight began.


	14. Chapter 14

Turbo was still rambling about his successful plan when Vanellope pounced toward him. He fell back, surprised, but quickly recover. She lunged several times, but kept missing. Her normal self saw something glitter in the corner of her eye. She allowed a tiny bit of her conscious to fight back and kicked Turbo back. He wasn't hurt, just stunned, and it gave Vanellope enough time to grab a knife on the kitchen counter. Hesitantly, she held it toward him.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed.

Turbo laughed. "You're controlling it a little bit. Good, good. But don't you have any doubts? A creeping feeling? Don't you want to be the best? Or will you let Taffyta and Gloyd beat you again?"

The glitch part of her wanted to scream, _Yes! They must go down!_, but her normal self knew this wasn't true. She couldn't hurt her best friend and friend, err, crush.

"May I remind you," Turbo growled, "that Taffyta was mean to you? She didn't care until you were about to execute her."

"How did-"

"I was there. Don't ask."

The glitch took her over again and she attacked him, cutting his arm with the knife. He roared in pain and kicked her back. Her head hit the wall and the pain increased. Before she could do anything, the wall exploded behind her. Dust flew everywhere, and when it cleared, Ralph stood there, breathing hard.

"What!?" Turbo cried. "Not you again!"

"Leave her alone!"

Turbo laughed. "You see, Ralph, I'm going to take over this arcade. Litwak stopped me with RoadBlasters and you stopped me with Sugar Rush. I will not let you halitosis-riddled warthog stop me again!"

At the sound of Turbo kicking Ralph back, Vanellope's glitch grew until she couldn't take it anymore. She screamed bloodily and jumped toward Turbo, who once again was taken by surprise, but recovered quickly. Ralph managed to knock him back so his head hit the wall, and he was dazed for a few seconds.

"Go!" Ralph cried at Vanellope.

"Ralph... I... I..." Her glitch was fading away, and so was she. The pain was great, but her weakness was greater.

"Vanellope!"

Turbo laughed.

"Okay," Ralph muttered, "you seriously need to stop laughing every five seconds."

"Silence!" Turbo cried. "You can not win!"

"Why?" Ralph screamed. "Why do you have to win? Can't you just settle with yourself?"

Turbo stopped. "What? No! Don't try to 'reason' with me!" He made quotations with his fingers when he said "reason".

Vanellope groaned, either of failed laughter or of pain.

"Turbo, you don't need to be perfect. You didn't need to unplug every game along the way. You didn't need to hurt Vanellope!" Ralph's anger was boiling over.

"If I don't win, who will?"

That comment, Ralph noticed, made no sense, which proved that Turbo was psychopathic. At what point would he actually die? Not that he wanted to kill or unplug anyone (hence the ironic term "going Turbo"), but maybe...

"Fine," Ralph said, "you can win at anything?"

"Believe it."

"Then fight me, like Street Fighters. Come on, don't be scared."

"O-okay!" Turbo's comment wasn't confident, let alone cocky like the rest of them were.

Turbo ran toward Ralph, but he was expecting that. Zangief had taught him a thing or two about fighting, and he was hopeful that he would remember it. He avoided Turbo so that he rammed his head into the wall. Ralph grabbed either side of Turbo and shoved him against the wall.

"Give up," he warned.

"Never!"

"Suit yourself."

Ralph rammed Turbo's head into the wall so that he was knocked out. Working quickly so as not to leave Vanellope too long, he found rope in the garage and tied Turbo to a chair. He head slumped pathetically down.

Vanellope was sitting and leaning against the wall, smiling weakly.

"Good... job..."

"Shhh," Ralph shushed, "we need to hurry."

He grabbed the vial and prayed that it would work. If it didn't, what would they do? Turbo had pulled plenty of tricks, why wouldn't he have a fake antidote? If the vial was fake, even poison, perhaps, then all would be hopeless. The process of death may even speed up. What then?

Ralph played with the vial in his hands and made the decision.


	15. Chapter 15

_**Sorry about the fight scene! If you couldn't tell, I'm not the best at those... lol... hope you like these last few chapters, and yes, I'm writing a sequel. If you wanna read it, follow me (the author), because I'm not posting the sequel on this post. Anyway, enjoy this, I honestly (and a bit guiltily) hope you cry! Just the emotion :) Tell me how sad you guys felt in the reviews please!  
**_

"Drink this," Ralph said, handing the vial to her.

Vanellope hesitated. "Are you sure?" The sky-blue liquid swished back and forth as she played with it. It seemed innocent enough, but then again, Turbo had, too, before he went, uh, Turbo.

"Yes." The single word was difficult to get out. He figured that either way, Vanellope would die, he may as well try. If it didn't work, well, the pain would be gone quickly.

Vanellope took a deep, laborious breath. She swished the liquid back and forth, debating herself. She trusted Ralph, but what if this killed her? Then what? What would happen to Sugar Rush without a leader. Before she could do anything, tears fell down her face.

"Ralph," she croaked, "what if I don't live?"

"Don't say that!" Ralph cried, surprised at her tear. The crying from the glitch was just a symptom, as Dr. Mario told him once, but this was real. The little tough President never, ever cried. Now she was sobbing. As far as he could tell, Ralph's heart never broke. The whole adventure earlier that year about not wanting to be a bad guy was just bending it a bit. But Ralph's heart wasn't broken now. It was shattered.

"If I drink this," she said, "promise me I'll live." Tears still painfully (for both of them) fell down her cheek.

Ralph looked at the floor, not wanting to lie.

"You can't promise it, can you?" she muttered, wiping the tears from her eyes. It was to no avail; they just kept coming.

Ralph didn't answer again.

She sighed. "Ralph..."

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna drink it."

He knew he told her to do it, but suddenly, he felt a ting of regret. This may hurt her more, not kill her faster.

Vanellope lifted the vial to her lips. Time slowed down for Ralph. Before he could cry out to stop her, she drank it down.

They waited.

And waited.

And waited.

"Well?" Ralph asked after a suspenseful few minutes.

Vanellope didn't answer. She tested her arms, then legs, wincing each time. "I'm still in pain. Nothing's changed. What if..."

She seemed to zone out.

"What if what?" Ralph yelled, practically about to shake her.

Vanellope remained zoned out, and looked at Ralph, confused. She didn't just looked at him, though, she peered all around, still confused. Ralph continued to cry out to her, but she acted as if she didn't hear him. She slammed her hands against the ground several times. It should've hurt with the force she was using, but it didn't. Trying to stand up, she just fell again. It was if all her senses had simultaneously stopped working.

"Vanellope!" Ralph screamed for the umpteenth time. She didn't answer. Once again trying to stand up, she collapsed, her body remaining limp on the ground.

For the first time ever, tears ran down Ralph's cheeks. Angry, sad, upset, furious tears. In his frustration, he lifted up his giant hands and smashed a ten-foot hole in the wall. Nothing important was behind it; just the road, and a surprised Yoshi. He didn't care, though, because his best friend and little sister was...

He looked back at her, her black hair blowing a bit from the wind coming in from the hole. Her now-blind eyes were shut, the green-brown eyes hidden forever. The mint-green tights and hoody were still on her, as well as her peanut-butter cup skirt. Any other day, her appearance would've been considered "nice", "pretty" even (as many of the boys called her), but now it was annoying that she looked so peaceful. As Ralph admired her so seemingly the last time, something caught his eye.

Under her hoody, her stomach was quietly and slowly moving up and down. She was breathing. A glimmer of hope appeared in Ralph. Maybe, just maybe, if he made it to Doctor Mario, Vanellope would be okay. He gently picked her up and sprinted out of Mario Kart.

"Well," Dr. Mario stated, watching Vanellope on the examination bed, "she seems-a okay. What did you give her?"

Ralph handed Dr. Mario the vial. Vanellope had smartly saved most of the blue liquid for the others. Dr. Mario didn't take long to answer.

"She may be okay, but most likely, she-a won't remember you, or anything. The antidote has-a amnesia poison in it."

"Of course," Ralph muttered. "Is there any chance that she will remember anything?"

Dr. Mario shook his head. "It may even change her whole personality. You never know, she could want to be a princess, wearing her-a dress 24/7."

Ralph winced. The tiny President had several times tried to get rid of her princess dress, but it kept re-spawning, just like a character. Plus, she had had to wear it several times for a few gamers who found a bonus level. May as well not risk the game.

"When will she wake up?" Ralph asked.

"When will who wake up?" someone said weakly. Vanellope rubbed her eyes and looked around. "Where am I?"

Ralph beamed. "Just Dr. Mario's office. Forget that; Vanellope! You're okay!"

She looked at him like she was a crazy character. "Who?"

"You," Dr. Mario informed her. "Ralph, she can go home now."

He nodded, leading her out.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"It's me, Ralph!" he cried, distraught. "I'm from Fix-it-Felix Jr.! I'm the bad guy, and you're best friend!"

She scowled. "Why am I friends with a bad guy?"

He tried to remain calm, taking a few breaths.

"Who else do I know?" Vanellope asked, glancing around at the characters in Game Central Station. "Do I have any family? Or like a boyfriend?"

Ralph jumped. "Gloyd!"

"What? Who's that?"

"Come on, we have to go to your game now!"

They sprinted back toward Sugar Rush, Vanellope struggling to keep up. When they finally made it to the secret hideout (Vanellope was hesitant to run through the wall, but eventually followed), Gloyd cried out, apparently hearing them.

"Help!"

Ralph ran toward the sound of the voice, careful as to not knock down any Mentos. Gloyd was behind the track, tied up.

"Where am I?" he cried. "I... I was passed out... Then I just woke up..."

Ralph ripped the ropes off him.

"Did you find the antidote?" Gloyd asked.

"Yeah, but don't drink it just yet. We need to get the poison out of it before someone else..."

"Poison? Someone else?"

Ralph impatiently told her what happened, straining to keep from crying again when he came to the part about Vanellope.

"Hey," she cried, "what's going on?"

Gloyd ran toward her. "You don't remember me?"

She shook her head, then laughed a bit. "Why do you have a pumpkin on your head?"

"I see her attitude didn't change," Ralph muttered. "Vanellope, if you don't remember anything, does that mean-"

Gloyd understood immediately. "The game will be unplugged?!"


	16. Chapter 16

_**Last chapter :( If you want to read the sequel, once again, follow me (the author)! Also, no promises, but I'll probably post the link to it on here, too. Enjoy the last chapter ;)**_

"Look," Vanellope said, "I don't know what game this is, or how I'm involved in it, but I won't let it be unplugged. How was my personality?"

Ralph snickered. "You had an attitude."

"You loved candy, obviously," Gloyd added.

"Called me names."

"Fast racer."

"More attitude."

"Fun to be around."

"Even more attitude."

"Really pretty..."

"And much more att-"

"Okay!" she cried. "Gosh. So, I'm a racer... How about I try racing?"

Within minutes, Ralph had obtained the cart from the castle (with a bit of an argument from Sour Bill) and was showing Vanellope how to work it. It was a bit saddening, for he remembered when he had had to do this the first time. Nevertheless, it was also fun again, especially with Gloyd there to help. They weren't buttons, they were pedals. The "stopper" was called the break. The thing that wasn't supposed to do anything was the clutch. Ralph was learning more than Vanellope here.

After a few successful test runs (luckily without Ralph getting hit again), she was racing around the track again. Racing was in her code, amnesiac or not, after all.

She stopped in front of Ralph and Gloyd after a minute and pointed at the broken track between the Mentos. "Can I go up there?"

They exchanged looks.

"You're asking for permission?" Ralph asked.

"Am I not supposed to?"

"Just go. Go ahead."

She grinned, but it wasn't her trademark grin. It was genuine, but more like a friendly smile, not one with attitude and mischief. With too-slow speeds to be Vanellope, she sped off onto the track and toward the Mento-jump. Time seemed to slow down as she made the fateful jump. Halfway there, she knocked her head on a low Mento, and her cart landed on the track on the other side. It landed in front of Ralph and Gloyd.

"Are you okay?" Gloyd asked, running toward her.

She looked around. "Uh... Why am I here? I thought I moved into the castle... Oh my gosh, is my glitch gone?"

Ralph grinned. "Welcome back."

"And so," Vanellope said, trying to be formal as she finished her announcement, "we won't let this happen again. Turbo is in custody is the Mario Kart jail, guarded by Koopas. Has everyone received the antidote that needs it?"

A murmur of agreement escaped the crowd.

"Good. If anyone develops a glitch again... Well, they won't."

"Thank you, Princess Vanellope!" a random candy-person shouted from the crowd, much to her surprise.

"President," she mumbled, "and thanks, but it was really Ralph and Gloyd. Thank them!"

Ralph and Gloyd were shoved forward, thanked by everyone for their contribution. Ralph patted Vanellope's head in his own thanks. Gloyd came forward and kissed her on the cheek. More cheers erupted from the crowd. Vanellope blushed down to her little peanut butter cup skirt.

Over the next few weeks, everyone tried their best to forget the incident. Gloyd and Vanellope were happy together (though Taffyta was bit jealous, they still got a along). Ralph and Felix's game was still happy, and they still visited. Hero's Duty was under a lot less pressure.

One night, Felix and Calhoun were on a date, walking through the forests in Fix-it-Felix Jr. As they were discussing the day, Calhoun suddenly felt dizzy. Her code glitched slightly, but neither noticed. She collapsed onto the ground, trying to hold onto her consciousness. Felix dashed toward the penthouse, hoping he'd get there in time.

_**The**_ end!


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